Flyers general manager Paul Holmgren made the call to fire Stevens.
“I think Paul felt he had to make this change,” Flyers chairman Ed Snider said. “I make it a policy never to overrule my general manager, because once I do, it means I’ve lost confidence in him.”
The Flyers were expected to contend in the Eastern Conference this season. They were 13-11-1 for 27 points and out of the playoff picture entering today’s game against Washington.
Peter Laviolette Jr. (born December 7, 1964) is an American National Hockey League (NHL) defenseman and current head coach of the Philadelphia Flyers. From 2003-2008, he was the head coach of the Carolina Hurricanes, which he led to a Stanley Cup championship in the 2005-06 season.
As a player, Laviolette spent the majority of his 10-year career playing for various minor league teams. He played twelve games in the NHL for the New York Rangers in the 1988–89 season.
He began his coaching career as head coach of the ECHL Wheeling Nailers. In one season as coach, he led his team to a 37–24–9 record and a berth in the playoffs, wherein they lost in the third round. He left Wheeling to take over the head coaching job for the Providence Bruins. In 1998–99 he coached the team to a 56–15–4 regular-season record. In the playoffs Providence won the American Hockey League (AHL) Championship with a 15–4 playoff record. Laviolette was named AHL Coach of the Year.
Laviolette's success in the AHL earned him a stint as an assistant coach for the Boston Bruins. Having grown up in the Boston suburb of Franklin, Massachusetts, Laviolette was disappointed when he did not get the head coaching job in Boston after that season so he left for the head coaching job on Long Island. After taking over the New York Islanders, which had suffered seven years of post-season futility prior to his arrival, he led his team to the playoffs in both seasons he was there. His first season in New York resulted in a surprisingly consistent season in which the Islanders earned 96 points (42–28–8–4 record), nearly winning the Atlantic division, before losing a close playoff series to the Toronto Maple Leafs. The Islanders sneaked into the playoffs the next season and then lost in 5 games to the Ottawa Senators in the first round.
Laviolette came to the Carolina Hurricanes in the 2003–04 season. He took over following the firing of Paul Maurice. In his first season, he coached 52 games during a rebuilding year. Laviolette led the Hurricanes to an excellent regular season during his second year at the helm, winning the Southeast Division with 112 points (52–22–8 record). The Hurricanes won their first Stanley Cup championship in franchise history during the 2006 playoffs, after winning two very close seven-game playoff series over the Buffalo Sabres and Edmonton Oilers. He was runner-up for the Jack Adams Award, which was awarded to Lindy Ruff in the closest vote ever recorded for this award, 155–154.
After winning their first title, Laviolette's Hurricanes suffered through an injury-plagued 2006–07 season that saw the team finish with a disappointing 40–34–8 record. The next season, the team once again got off to a poor start, but held first place in a weak division for most of the season, despite having a sub-.500 record until February. The team then got hot and built what was seen as a solid lead. However, the Washington Capitals got red hot in the final weeks, Carolina lost several games down the stretch, and Laviolette's group missed the postseason.
On December 3, 2008, Laviolette was fired as coach of the Hurricanes and replaced by his predecessor Paul Maurice.
Laviolette coached the U.S. Olympic Men's Hockey Team at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, Italy.
Laviolette played collegiate hockey at Westfield State College, Westfield MA.
On November 7, 2008, Laviolette became the winningest US-born NHL coach with his 240th victory. John Tortorella later eclipsed this record in 2009.
Now Laviolette works on the panel for the TV network TSN.
